Republic Wireless and Your Wi-Fi Router
Good quality voice calls over the Internet require a good quality Internet connection, and a good quality Internet router. This is especially true for the hybrid phones offered by Republic Wireless that can use Wi-Fi Internet connections rather than cell service. If you're a Republic Wireless customer or are considering the service, you may wonder which routers are known to work well. While many routers will work well for E-mail, surfing the 'Net, or even streaming music or video, some will not handle Republic's voice calls properly. And a higher or lower price is not necessarily a good indication of whether a router can properly handle voice calls. Decision Matrix The table of routers below has been constructed from comments made by Republic Wireless customers in the Republic Community and from comments posted to this page. Here's what's included: *''Make, Model, Firmware'' : These three items uniquely identify a router. The model number may also include a hardware version (e.g. V2 = version 2). Firmware version can be critical to whether a router works properly, and is required for a router to be listed here. *''QOS or WMM'' : These router features can give voice calls priority over other types of data traffic, thereby improving call quality when the phone must compete with other Internet activity. WMM is helpful with Republic's newer phones but only affects the Wi-Fi airwaves; QOS can insure that sufficient Internet bandwidth is available for voice calls regardless of other Internet activity. Note that some routers with only WMM may refer to it as QOS; the way to know the difference is, WMM is an on/off switch, while QOS requires filling in a form with a variety of information. *''More Info'' : Posts link to the Republic Community where members may have mentioned required settings needed for that router to work well. Comments link to remarks about that model posted in the comments section at the bottom of this page. Names of individuals willing to assist with that router may also be listed here. *''This Router Works For Me'' : More green than red means that router is likely to work well enough for Wi-Fi voice calls on Republic's phones. How To Contribute If your router matches one in the table, including firmware version, and you've made calls from a Republic phone using Wi-Fi via that router, please record your positive or negative experience by clicking the appropriate bullet and then click the Register Mine button. If your router is not in the table, please contribute by adding a comment to this page that includes make, model, hardware version, and firmware version of your router. Then watch for a response that the model was added, after which you can register your positive or negative outcome with that model. If you don't provide at least make, model, and firmware version, your router will not be added to the table. Note: Some routers that don't work properly can be made to work with minor changes to settings. If you have a router that's not listed and isn't working, please ask for assistance in the Republic Community before having it added here and registering a negative result. If your non-working router is listed here with more than a 50% positive rating, please consult the sources under More Info ''before registering a negative result. Please also post a comment if you know that particular model and firmware supports QOS or WMM and that has not been noted. '''A Note About Third Party Router Firmware' Some entries below reference firmware that's not supplied by the router manufacturer. Names such as DD-WRT, OpenWRT, and Tomato are the most popular third party firmwares that are available for free. Except for a few exceptions, these are not supported by the manufacturer and their use will void the manufacturer's warranty. Configuring third party firmware may require advanced knowledge and technical skill. The benefits include additional features and sometimes greater stability than the manufacturer's firmware. CAUTION: Improperly choosing or installing third party firmware can permanently damage a router. Where third party firmware has been linked for easy downloading, it's hoped that the referenced download is safe to use. Nonetheless, proceed at your own risk when installing any third party firmware, whether from the download referenced here or from your own searching. The writers of this Wiki are not responsible for your damaged router. Tested Routers __TOC__ 2Wire (Support for 2Wire products is now provided by Pace) Actiontec Airlink101 Amped Wireless Apple ARRIS ASUS BEC Belkin Buffalo Technology Cisco (For consumer products, see: Linksys) Clear Comtrend D-Link Edimax Linksys Medialink MikroTik Motorola Netgear Novatel Pace Rosewill Securifi Sagemcom SMC Networks SonicWALL Synology Technicolor TP-Link TRENDnet Verizon Branded routers provided by Verizon are listed by the manufacturer's name from the nameplate. See Actiontec and Westell. Westell Western Digital Zoom ZyXEL